This invention relates generally to a vehicle door latch and more particularly to a vehicle door latch that has a forkbolt, a detent for holding the forkbolt in a latched position, a release mechanism for moving the detent to a position releasing the forkbolt, a lock mechanism for disabling the release mechanism, and an intermittent lever attached to the detent for moving the detent to the position releasing the forkbolt.
An automotive closure, such as a door for an automobile passenger compartment, is hinged to swing between open and closed positions and conventionally includes a door latch that is housed between inner and outer panels of the door. The door latch functions in a well known manner to latch the door when it is closed and to lock the door in the closed position or to unlock and unlatch the door so that the door can be opened manually.
The door latch is operated remotely from the exterior of the automobile by two distinct operatorsxe2x80x94typically a key cylinder that controls the lock mechanism and an outside door handle or push button that controls the release mechanism.
The door latch is also operated remotely from inside the passenger compartment by two distinct operatorsxe2x80x94a sill button that controls the lock mechanism and an inside door handle that controls the release mechanism.
Vehicle door latches for upscale automobiles also typically include a power assembly which also operates the lock mechanism and/or a keyless entry in which a key fob transmitter sends a signal to a receiver in the vehicle to operate a power assembly for the motor driven lock mechanism.
It is also known to provide a double lock mechanism to disable the lock mechanism so that is cannot be operated by the sill button or other inside lock mechanism operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,543 granted to Frank Joseph Arabia et al Apr. 25, 2000 discloses a vehicle door latch that has a forkbolt and a spring biased detent that holds the forkbolt in a latched position. The spring biased detent is moved by a manually operated release mechanism that includes an intermittent lever that operates on a pin that is attached to the detent. The lower end of the intermittent lever is pivotally attached to one end of an inside unlatching lever by a pivot pin. The other end of the inside unlatching lever has a generally perpendicular tab that is used for operating the unlatching lever by an inside door handle or the like. When the inside door handle or its equivalent rotates the unlatching lever, the intermittent lever is pulled down moving the pin and detent to a release position where the fork bolt is released allowing the vehicle door to be opened from inside the vehicle.
The release mechanism of the door latch also includes an outside release lever or unlatching lever. One end of the outside unlatching lever is pivotally mounted on a stud while the opposite end of the outside unlatching lever is adapted for operating the outside unlatching lever by an outside handle or the like. When the outside handle or its equivalent rotates the outside unlatching lever, the unlatching lever engages the pin attached to the intermittent lever and pulls the intermittent lever down moving the detent to a release position where the fork bolt is released allowing the vehicle door to be opened from outside the vehicle.
The door latch includes a lock mechanism that includes the intermittent lever and that is preferably power operated. The door latch also includes an optional power operated double lock mechanism. However, the door latch does not have any provision for power operation of the release mechanism described above.
The object of this invention is to provide a vehicle door latch that has a power operated unlatching mechanism.
A feature of the vehicle door latch of the invention is that the power operated unlatching mechanism does not eliminate either the lock mechanism which may be power operated or the power operated double lock.
Another feature of the vehicle door latch of the invention is that the power operated unlatching mechanism does not eliminate the manual operation of the release mechanism from either inside or outside the vehicle.
Still another feature of the vehicle door latch of the invention is that the power operated unlatching mechanism unlatches the door latch even when the door latch is locked or double locked.
Yet another feature of the vehicle door latch of the invention is that the power operated unlatching mechanism involves the addition of a single lever, and a motor driven actuator for moving the lever.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description below, which is given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.